Science Fiction Though the Decades

Friday, May 8, 2015

This hodgepodge collection of Brunner's, aptly titled, is
dedicated “TO YOU and everyone else who reads my work. I always wanted to be a
writer. But four you I've never have made it. Thanks” (5). And by hodgepodge,
I mean there's a lot going on here—so many different facets of the man behind
the novels and short fiction.

Within the mosaic of writing, the reader will find:

One (1) cryptic
crossword with its solution

Five (5) original
short stories (one, an excerpt)

Five (5) limericks

Five (5) essays

Five (5) songs

Five (5) very brief
translations

Five (5) original
poems

I had only known Brunner for his short fiction and novels... I
had no idea he was well versed in so many areas including translations. I've
read 27 of his novels and three of his collections... that's a pretty damn big
cross-section of a prolific author, yet I've only caught a glimpse of the
iceberg that is John Brunner.

While I love to read short fiction, the most interesting
inclusion to this kaleidoscope of Brunner is his passing comments on a number
of topic-related novels and short fiction that I've never come across:

Novels:

Eric Frank
Russell's Sinister Barrier (1939)

Evelyn Waugh's The
Loved One (1948)

Naomi Mitchison's Memoirs
of a Spacewoman (1962)

Bernard Wolfe's Limbo
(1952)

H.G. Wells' The
World Set Free (1918)

John Hersey's The
Child Buyer (1960)

Short stories:

Arthur Porges's
“$1.98” (1954)

James Blish's
“Common Time” (1953)

Hal Draper's “MS
Fnd in a Lbry” (1961)

Rog Phillip's “The
Yellow Pill” (1959)

I'm not one who enjoys reviewing crosswords, limericks, essays,
songs, or poems... so I offer only six short reviews: four of the short stories
(minus the excerpt), a French translation of a short story, and one of
Brunner's poems which struck a cord in me.

------------

“Bloodstream” (1974, novelette) – 3/5

There's a lot of history between Christopher Hill and William
Bush, but that was ten years ago and in university. Chris has always envied
Bill for his style, charm, and intelligence, but the same Bill he almost runs
over in the middle of the street has fallen into disgrace. Unperturbed, Chris
later meets Bill in his slum house where Bill launches a diatribe about human
evolution and the city as an organism, all the while holding Chris captive by
his own warped, internal logic. 18 pages

“Hide and Seek” (1973/1973, short story) – 4/5

Original: “Cache-cache” by Gerard Klein, translated by John
Brunner

The often purported Theory of Everything has been rumored to
exist in many places and faiths, but mathematicians and physicists know that it
simply lies in the details. Most, however, feign from delving into exhaustive
detail as it requires hundreds and thousands of pages and hours to describe
details across multiple disciplines. Of course, that purported Theory of
Everything is the existence of God, but where the details lie, does the devil
lie within, too? 1 page

“Who Steals My Purse” (1973, novelette) – 4/5

Insults were directed toward the US by a southeast Asian nation
and the President has announced that the American people won't stand for the
accusations. Immediately, America is divided into the pro—those who seek direct
resolution—and the con—those who urge pacifism. Barney is a TV political
reported who is assigned to capture the mounting tension prior to the Senate's
judgment in seven days. Meanwhile in southeast Asia, Cham Loc tends to his poor
fields and family. 32 pages

“When Gabriel...” (1956, short story) – 4/5

Running and rounding a corner on their way to perform at a jazz
concert, two musicians run into a shifty-looking miscreant who, while upon leaving, gives a wrapped
trumpet to the trumpeter. As he unwraps it, he sees it's the most beautiful
trumpet of all, yet without make or serial number. Once at the concert,
situated in a crypt, the man sticks to his regular trumpet, saving the elegant
one for a jam afterwards. The notes blown are perfect, yet within the crypt,
something has been called forth. 9 pages

“The New Thing” (1969, short story) – 4/5

More than 10,000 years ago, the human race created the Record
Registry, a massive computer that's able to analyze every accomplishment bu
every alien species that has ever existed in the universe. The creation of the
Registry was a first amid the universe—it was also mankind's first and last
Record of any sort. It was supposed to fuel ambition, but it has smothered
progress. One man from Earth wishes to challenge three Records at once. 14
pages

“The Atom Bomb is Twenty-five This Year” (1970, poem) – 5/5

John Brunner has long been a fierce opponent of nuclear weapons.
He once wrote lyrics along the same lines for a protest song called “The
H-Bombs' Thunder”, sung to the traditional music of “Life is Like a Mountain
Railway”. Here, Brunner asks why we and our children should suffer from our
leaders' choices. The same theme is found in this poem, but on a much more
personal note: Why can the government instantly kill thousands of innocent
people with a bomb, but one woman can't euthanize herself from the effects of
the bomb? 2 pages